Tobacco-stemming machine



June 9, 1925. Y

- 1,541,487 a. 'F. EICKART TOBACCO s'rsmame momma:

* Filed May 21, 1923 June 9, 1925. 1,541,487

G. F. ECKART I TOBACCO STEMMING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1923- 3 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Gemyeli10%a7* June 9, 1925. I 1,541,487

G. F. ECKART TO B ACCO STEMMING MACHINE Filed May 21, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented June 9, 1925.

PAT EN'r 'OFFI one-nan n. norma s, oF a sH-AWAKA. INDIA-NA, nss enon T aUroMnTIos-rmnvrnn COMBA-NY; on-on-rcaeo, rumors, A; conronnm-ionon DELAMARE;

'TOBACCO-STEM;MING.MAGHINE.

ining machines and: the like. The primary object of this invention is to provide a, means. for rapidly and efficiently stripping the leavesfi'om tobacco stems.

This andother objects as will hereinafter appear are accomplished by this invention which; is fully described in the following ing drawings, in which Figural .isahtopplan view of'the ma.

chine;

Fig. 2 iisa side elevation ofthe same;

Fig. 8-is a greatlyenlarged section on the line of Fig. 1; and i F 4-is a side eleyation of the chain taken on theline 1.& of. Fig.

The embodiment shown comprisesa -main frame.10 supported.o eleggr s11. Tavo parallel, sprocket shafts. 12. and: are j ournaled in bars. on r-ried bytheinain fTEtXHQflLIIQl ha s e meshing gears, 1a. and 1 5 keyed thereon. The shaftlQ also carries a berel gear 1 6 which meshes with thep inion 1.7 keyed on theshaft18. This shaft is journaled in bear.- ii gs carried by the nain frame 10 and is. drivenby a gear 19. which meshes with an idler 2Q and this intur-n with agear 21 on the shaft 22 which is likewisejournaled in bars carried by the main framelO The shaft 22 ,is.-dr iven--by .a -ge.ar which meshes. with a pinion 24 which is carried by. a stub axle onthe mainframe 10. The, pinion 24 is secured to a sprocket 26 which is. driven by av sprocket 2?; on the, power shaft 28 through the sprocket chain 29.

The shaft 13 carries. a sprocket tlO over which runs a chain 31 (Figs. 3 and 4) which passes around the sprocket32 which is car ried by a shaft 83 which is journaled in suitable bearings carried by the main frame. A similar sprocket 34 is carried by the shaft 12. A chain 35 which lies above the chain 31 passes around this sprocket and around another sprocket not shown which would be off the paper.

.pecification 311d shown in the accompany-.

The two chains. 31- and .are parallel aiicl are, drivenat, the same speed sothat the. t wo'pass.alongtogether in the same relation. as that shown 'in Fig. 4. These chains. have blades 36.. and. 3.7 which, have. a series of overlapping notches which, form a, series of. nac s. 8.-;

A. -pulley. 3,9,is carried to the. endof. the shaft 'l 3. Abelt. iQ .passesover this pulley and is. driven at substantially the same lineal velocity as that of the chain 31,

It is thus apparent. thatas tobacco leaves A are laid onthe belt iO with their stems. ,B overhanging the belt. and extending. be yond; andabeneath the -chain 35 as the to hacco, leaf approaches the sprocket 30 it. will be carried up by the matches in the blades 37 and; will fall into one of the spaces. 8. as the two chains approach each other; as the-chain 31 passes around the sprocket 30. At this-point some means for, gripping the tobacco stenrB and p u-llingtit through theblades36 andBT is. required so that;substantiallyall thewtobacco leafwill be stripped from the stem, The meansfor. doing this. will i now be described.

Thisgrip ping and feeding means c0m prisesapair; of rolls 4:11 andtg n' hich are secured to shafts 43 and 44;, which are driven by. 'gearsfi,and-lfiwvhich mesh with a gear iIontheshaft 48. Thesenthree. shafts are mounted in suitable bearings. carried by the mainframe. TheshaftAS is; driven by a sprocls et til, the chain 50, the. sprockets 5-1 and 52,:thc chain 53. from the sprocket L on the power shaft- 28...

t wil I ei s a r t lia he. l s. 41 and 4-2 are driven irra; clockwise direction as shown,in Figs. 2 -and 3.- Idlenrolls 5,5 and 56 are .jou rnaled in equalizer bars. 57 which are pivot mounted on pinions :58 in the bifurcated yoke member 59. This-member iscarried'by a; shaft- 0 which is mounted inbarsiinthe main frame 10.; the opposite endof this member. carries a cam follower (ilwhich engages a cam slot 62 in the facing of the cam 63 which is keyed to the shaft 22. The larger portion of the cam slot 62 is concentric with the axis of the shaft 22 and during the time the follower- 61 is in this concentric portion of the cam slot the rolls 55 and 56 remain raised. -The portion 62, however, of this cam slot curves in to the cam slot and as the cam follower 61 enters this portion of the cam slot the rolls and 56 are forced down to the rolls ll and 2. I

These gears are so timed that a number of tobacco stems B are fed between the rolls 41 and 55 during the time the rolls 55 and 56 are raised. Then as the cam follower 61 enters the inwardly curved portion 62 ot the cam slot the rolls 55 and 56 are forced down thereby gripping the tobacco stems B. The rolls 41 and 42 are continuously driven and consequently draw these stems through the notched blades 36 and 37, thereby stripping the tobacco as has been previously described.

The stripped stems C passing through the rolls 4.2 and 56 tall upon a belt (34 which passes around a pulley 65 and is driven from an outside source, not shown. These stems then pass out from the machine and may be subjected toan additional stripping process to remove if desired, any solid par ticles of tobacco leaves still remaining thereon.

As the cam follower 61 again leaves the portion. 69f of the cam slot the rolls and 56 are raised and a new bunch of tobacco stems may then be fed between the rolls 41 and 55 while the latter remains raised.

\Vhile I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes therefore in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

I claim:

1.. A tobacco stripping machine comprising stripping members having notched edges, means for moving said members together with said notched edges in overlapping relation, a constantly rotating roller lying lengthwise of said members, a roller parallel to the first mentioned roller and normally held at a distance therefrom so that stems of tobacco leaves held between said members may be passed between said rollers, and means for moving said rollers together whereby the stems will be drawn through said members.

2. A tobacco stripping machine comprising two parallel chains having notched members on their adjacent sides and moving at substantially equal speeds, said notched members moving into overlapping relation at a predetermined point, pulling means lying adjacent to said chains when in overlapping relation, and means forintermittently causing said pulling means to operate to grip the overhanging ends of tobacco stems and draw them through said notched members. 7

3. A tobacco stripping machine comprising two parallel chains having notched members on their adjacent sides and moving at substantially equal speeds, said notched members moving into overlapping relation at a predetermined point, rollers lying parallel to said chains and adjacent thereto, one of said rollers being continuously driven, and means for intermittently separating said rollers to permit the insertion of the ends of tobacco stems therebetween and closing them to grip said stems and pull them through the notched members. I

l. A tobacco stripping machine comprising two parallel chains having notched members on their adjacent sides and moving at substantially equal speeds, said notched members moving into overlapping relation at a predetermined point, rollers lying parallel to said chains and adjacent thereto, one of said rollers being continuously driven, means for intermittently separating said rollers to permit the insertion of the ends of tobacco stems therebetween and closing them to grip said stems and pull them through the notched members, and means for feeding tobacco leaves to said notched members.

A tobacco stripping machine comprising two parallel chains having notched members on their adjacent sides and moving at substantially equal speeds, said notched members moving into overlapping relation. at a predetermined point, rollers lying parallel to said chains and adjacent thereto, one of said rollers being continuously driven, means for intermittently separating said rollers to permit the insertion of theends of tobacco stems therebetween and closing them to grip said stems and pull them through the notched members, and a belt travelling at the same lineal speed as said chain for feeding tobacco leaves to said notched members.

lVitness my hand and seal this first day of May 1923.

GEQRGE F. ECKART. 

